Winter Arches

By Melkur

Tue, 19 Feb 2013
  • 933 reads
5 comments
 

Soft the snowdown whispers
Silent the word to the quick of brick,
No straw to cover the high arches,
Yet plaguing all in its slavery.

Winter waxes eloquent overnight,
Whitening the girders in frosted silhouette:
Platform a story of ice and regret,
The very track a chalk horse waiting the reins to ride.

Engines of ash stand ready to drive
Hot furnaces, charcoal braziers burnt
To carry the day forth to the living:
Visitors of vitality to the night.

Summer’s reason petrified,
Buried beneath bright shadows,
A crumpled ticket telling of July
Journeys to the beach now forgotten.

Wind a shifting agent of the snow,
Rattling the gathering carriages,
Flurries slow the hurry as
Coal scuttles in its roaring death.

Timetables torn adrift
In and out of season,
Last of the line now standing,
Not to stand on the order of departure.

Certificate U
Poem
East Highland Gothic
Historical Fiction

Comments

Submitted by Highhat on
I really like your poetry. Perhaps if you were to personify more of these material things with your good use of vocabulary it may work even better in your poems. Just a humble suggestion.

Submitted by Esther on
I enjoyed the journey of your poem and how your writing worked with the seasons, the crumpled railway ticket; last of the line now standing sent shivers down my spine for the steam driven world we once had.

Submitted by Melkur on
Thank you both. :) Highhat, not sure what you mean by personifying material things? Do you mean, more in the first person? Most of the poems I put on here are at least 10 years old, I wrote poetry vigorously for a few years, but after going round all the UK publishers who accept unsolicited submisions (there were about 30 then) with a book proposal in 1998, and again with a different project in 2003, and being turned down by them all, twice, I felt there wasn't much of a commercial future for my poetry. I established my website www.easthighlandgothic.com as one means of publishing them in 2007, especially with some local photos. I mainly write prose now, and have had more publishing success with that, especially on www.cazart.co.uk. It's very gratifying to have found this site, and to get feedback from fellow writers. And I am very open to improving my poetry. Thank you for all suggestions. :)

 

Submitted by Highhat on
No take no notice of what I said- this is a fine example of gothic poetry..

Submitted by Esther on
Hi I thought I would share with you what I did, having interviewed over fifty people in the town where I live, I took the rash decision to self-publish. It's essential that you proceed with caution but why not self publish; perhaps gathering other writers together. If you worked towards self publishing at christmas then there will, hopefully, be a list of interested customers. Just a thought. My own risk did pay off but I was terrified. best wishes